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cathexis

cathexis

n. in psychoanalytic theory, the investment of psychic energy in an object of any kind, such as a wish, fantasy, person, goal, idea, social group, or the self. Such objects are said to be cathected when an individual attaches emotional significance (positive or negative affect) to them. See also anticathexis; decathexis; hypercathexis; object cathexis.

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